Review Incentive Laws: What's Legal and What's Not
Offering customers a discount in exchange for a review feels innocent — and it can wreck your business. The FTC, Google, Yelp, and most platforms ban incentivized reviews. This guide covers what's legal, what's not, and how to drive review volume without crossing the line.
What the FTC says
Incentivized reviews must be disclosed clearly. If a reviewer received anything of value (free product, discount, gift), the review must state this conspicuously. Failure to disclose can result in fines up to $50,120 per violation.
Google's policy
Google explicitly prohibits incentivized reviews. A reviewer cannot receive any compensation or benefit in exchange for a review. Violations result in review removal and potentially business profile suspension.
Yelp's policy
Yelp prohibits soliciting reviews from customers in any form — including non-monetary asks. Their filter is aggressive and often hides reviews that appear to be solicited.
What is legal
Asking for an honest review without offering anything in exchange. Recognizing reviewers publicly (featuring on social, thank-you notes). Generic 'thank you for your feedback' gestures that aren't tied to a specific review outcome.
Safe practices
Build a program that rewards customers for general engagement (not specifically for reviews). 'Earn a perk for sharing your experience' is different from 'Get $5 off for a 5-star review' — the first is legal, the second is not.
Tools to help
Social Perks is designed to comply with Google, Yelp, and FTC policy. Customers are rewarded for activity broadly — never tied to specific review outcomes.
Related topics
See also: How to ask for reviews, Fake review detection, Review platforms compared, Review automation, Handling negative reviews.
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